The 3rd International Culture Summit that took place in Lanzhou (Gansu Province, China) on October 8th-11th 2014 became a significant international event dedicated to the cultural cooperation and development among countries along the Silk Road. One of the major aims of the summit was to unite efforts in creating single space of cultural and industrial cooperation.

Historically, the Silk Road was a unique bridge that joined East and West, brining economic benefits and cultural enrichment to the countries along its more than 6,400 km route. The concept of Silk Road Economic Belt was put forward by the Chinese president Xi Jinping earlier this year at a meeting in Kazakhstan.

The summit was a large-scale event, attended by heads of UNESCO and other international organizations, state leaders and government officials, senior managers and CEOs of high-profile world companies, leading experts in culture industry, renowned scholars and professors. This year the delegate from Penza State University – Olga Meshcheryakova, head of the International Cooperation Department – participated in the work of the sub-forum in Lanzhou University.

During her speech, Olga Meshcheryakova stressed the fact that the Silk Road was never a rigid system, it was always adjusting to the changing realities of the day. New economic and cultural conditions of the 21st century, the age of globalization, created prerequisites for the Silk Road revival on a new scale. The new opportunities, as it was underlined in the speech, are open both in the spheres of educational and industrial development. The cooperation in education not only accelerates the mobility of the most active part of society – the young, but provides them with knowledge, intercultural awareness and partnership net.

The fact that Penza delegate took part in an international cultural summit is another important step in the development of cooperation between Penza and cities of the People’s Republic of China.